Porn actor and suspected killer Luka Magnotta is no stranger to the wrong side of the law.

The 29-year-old has been before the courts numerous times in Toronto, where he lived most of his life, but for offences much less serious than the murder rap he’s now facing.

In 2004, Magnotta was arrested and slapped with a dozen charges, including fraud and sexual assault.

However, at that time he was still using his real name, Eric Clinton Newman.

According to court documents obtained by the Toronto Sun, Newman and a friend, both 22 at the time, were accused of defrauding a woman out of nearly $17,000.

Newman also was alleged to have impersonated that woman to obtain an American Express card, which he used to go on a shopping spree at several department stores. He also was alleged to have used that woman’s identity to get a cellphone, cable service and a modem from Rogers.

And Newman was accused of further victimizing that same woman by sexually assaulting her.

When he was arrested, Toronto Police seized a 27-inch television, a DVD player, speakers and two cellphones, the documents reveal.

Newman was charged with four counts of personation with intent, six counts of possession of stolen property and one count each of fraud over $5,000 and sexual assault.

Those charges were all withdrawn by the Crown.

But Newman was ultimately convicted on three counts of fraud under $5,000 for his fraudulent purchases at Sears Canada, The Brick and 2001 Audio Video, and one count of personation with intent for fraudulently obtaining the credit card.

Newman received a nine-month conditional sentence in June 2005 to be “served in the community” and he was put on probation for 12 months.

He was ordered to live with his mother in Peterborough and had a curfew that required him to be in the home from 10 p.m. to 6 a.m.

Newman’s release conditions included, among other things, that he stay away from the woman whose identity he stole. He was also ordered not to possess any credit cards, identification, cellphones or pagers that were not in his name.

And he was told he could not use the Internet or e-mail.

But for a man who is now accused of being the star of a gruesome online murder video, it’s Newman’s final condition that is perhaps the most telling. The court documents show he was ordered “not to possess any 35-mm cameras, digital cameras or video cameras.”